Love Bites
by TangoMaxx
Summary: Ethan has finally mustered up the courage to ask Sarah on a date! But will their relationship change after Sarah is dragged along on a blind double date with Erica and forced to meet a new guy? Ethan/Sarah, slight Sarah/OC
1. Chapter 1

herrow all! and welcome to my new series! this is my first legit story on this website, so leave reviews telling me what you liked and what you didn't like, and i'll try to fix myself.

thanks for all your support, i couldn't have done it without you (heart :D)

i haven't really worked out a schedule yet, i still have to balance this story with my other series, Adventures of the Undead Kind. I post a new chapter every day for Adventures, so I'm thinking since this story needs a lot more effort, i'll probably just post a new chapter for this twice or three times a week. what do you guys think?

thanks again!

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

**Love Bites**

Sarah sighed as she rummaged through her locker. _Where did my freaking text book go?_ she thought. _If I spend any more time looking for it, I might be late for class!_

A sudden squeal startled her, causing her to jump and nearly made the contents of her locker spill out. "God, Erica! There are better ways to approach a person!"

Sarah's best friend was bouncing with joy next to her, and she looked like she was about to explode with pure happiness. Which was a clear indicator that something very terrible was about to happen for Sarah.

"Oh my God, Sarah, guess what happened!" Erica looked like a 5-year-old that really needed to use the bathroom. Sarah sighed.

"Erica, I really don't have time-"

"Ok, so you know how you haven't had a boyfriend since Jesse?" Erica didn't wait for Sarah to finish her sentence. "Well, I've officially solved your problem! I met this super hot guy at Starbucks yesterday. His name is Felix, and he's a freshman at Whitechapel University! It turns out he also has a brother named Toby, don't worry, he's smoking hot too, and being the charming temptress that I am, I've set up a double date!"

Sarah continued looking in her locker. "That's great, Erica, I hope you have fun with them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to attend!" Sarah nearly ran away from Erica to avoid any more awkward boyfriend conversations. She'd rather show up to class without a text book than listen about how Erica and her boyfriend (or in this case, boyfriends) of the week met.

Biology class was slow as usual. The teacher droned on about labs, frog reproduction, and rat dissection. The only thing she looked forward to was going to lunch after this and meeting up with Ethan and Benny. Those geeks always had something new to tell her. Whether it was about Star Wars, Star Trek, or any other new Star franchise. The lunch period bell rang, snapping Sarah out of her daydreams. She hurriedly wrote down the homework assignment she would do the day before the deadline and bolted out of that classroom.

*at lunch*

"Dude, are you gonna do it today or not?" Benny poked Ethan in the arm for the fifth time today.

"Calm down, Benny! I'm just thinking about it!" Ethan swatted his finger away. He looked around for any signs of Sarah.

"Come on, man, today is the day! Birds are singing, sun is shining, Mordor's on fire..." Ethan stuffed some mashed potatoes in Benny's mouth to shut him up.

"Sometimes I really do think you talk more than you eat."

"Hey, you guys!" Sarah appeared out of nowhere.

"Mmmplllggh!" Benny choked on his mashed potatoes.

"Oh, hey Sarah," Ethan tried to look like he wasn't excited. "What's up?"

"Oh, the usual stuff. Being a vampire isn't as exciting as some people say it is." she smiled as she sat down next to them at the table.

"Ohmigosh Benny, are you okay? You nearly choked to death there! Oh, I'm fine, thanks for you concern. Oh, I'm so glad! By the way, love what you've done with the hair." Benny mumbled to himself as he wiped some mash potatoes off his shirt.

"So where's Erica and Rory?" Ethan asked as they were eating.

"Oh, they're... um... going out for lunch..." Sarah cleared her throat. Benny then proceeded to inhale the chocolate milk he was drinking.

"Say WHAT? Erica and Rory are on a DATE?" Benny nearly yelled at the top of his lungs. Sarah covered his mouth with her hand, but then pulled it away due to the excessive amount of chocolate milk on his face.

"No, you idiot! They're hunting! Blood-drinkers, remember?" She wiped off her hand on her jeans. Ethan cracked up.

Benny exhaled. "Good. Because if Rory managed to get some of _that_, I think all the guys in the school would start worshiping him..." Sarah rolled her eyes. She got up with her (untouched) tray as the lunch bell rang.

"Well, see you guys later. I've got some depressing Shakespeare plays to study." She picked up her bag and began to push herself through the giant stampede of high-schoolers.

Ethan sighed. "Dude! You forgot to ask her!" Benny nudged him after he was done getting all the chocolate milk off his face.

"Calm down, Benny, I'll ask her sooner or later," Ethan got up. "Oh, and you kinda missed a spot."

Benny looked up to see his hair had become a tangled mess of mashed potatoes and milk. A posse of girls walked by and giggled at Benny's hair. He shrugged. "Nice conditioner."


	2. Chapter 2

**Love Bites**

**Chapter Two**

After school, Ethan, Benny, and Sarah were hanging out in the parking lot.

Well, Ethan and Benny weren't really "hanging out" because they were arguing.

"No, Benny, Han was gone for, like, five minutes before Lando Calrissian stole his seat on the Millennium Falcon," Ethan sighed.

"But still, even if Han was gone for two seconds, someone STILL has to be captain of the ship! That's why Lando was there!" Benny retorted.

"I know, but he doesn't have to get all fan-boyish and steal Han's clothes and boss Chewie around like he's better than him!"

"Well Chewie obviously didn't mind that much since he didn't RIP OFF HIS ARMS!"

Ethan rolled his eyes and turned to Sarah, who was leaning on the hood of her car, rubbing her temples. "Sarah, what do you think?"

She twitched. "I would rather not say what I'm thinking right now." Benny's phone rang.

"Hey, Grandma," he answered. He was silent for a while, listening to whatever his Grandma was telling him. "Yeah, yeah, I didn't forget. I know. Yeah. It just has a virus, Grandma, I can fix it as soon as I get home. No. No. Wait, what? Oh jeez, Grandma, just... put the laptop down and don't touch it. I'll be there in five," Benny hung up and grabbed his bag off the hood of Sarah's car. "She's having laptop problems again. She honestly thinks I'm the only person in the world who can fix it," he rolled his eyes. "Duty calls. See you guys later!"

Ethan and Sarah watched for a while as Benny hopped on his bike and peddled away. Then Sarah turned to Ethan. "Um, I think I better go hunt. I haven't eaten since this morning," she groaned.

Ethan nodded. "Yeah, I should let you eat. Heh. Uh... yeah. Have fun... hunting," He backed up as Sarah got in her car and started the engine.

"See you tomorrow," she smiled as she shifted gears.

As Sarah was briefly checking her rear view mirror, Ethan felt a sudden push.

It wasn't gravity, it was something in his gut telling him that the moment was now. Every part of him, actually. Like the universe wanted it to happen at this exact moment.

Ethan felt himself lunge in front of Sarah's car before she could leave.

"Oh my gosh, Ethan! What the HECK are you doing! You could've been run over!" Sarah yelled at him.

Ethan leaned next to her window. "Do you wanna go on a date sometime?" The words felt like they were flying out of his mouth. Sarah's face turned from anger and concern to shock and more concern.

"I... uh..." Sarah stammered, obviously not knowing what to say.

"Do you?"

It's not that Sarah didn't want to, she just had never expected this from Ethan. She smiled.

"Yeah, of course I do," she laughed. Ethan laughed. And soon they were just gut laughing for no reason.

"That's... that's awesome! Um, tomorrow? Would you be okay with going to the arcade?" Ethan felt like he was sweating.

"That would be perfect," Sarah leaned over to kiss Ethan on the cheek. "See you then!"

Ethan hadn't noticed that she had already left. He was too busy running around the nearly empty parking lot like a field crasher. Except he had all his clothes on.

He celebrated like that for about 10 more minutes, then skipped home. He didn't care that people stared at him like he was some kind of mentally-ill hobo.

As soon as he got home, he told his parents the news. There was kind of an explosion.

"Aaaahh! Ethan!"

"Well done, son!"

"Gross!"

He was showered with praise and hugs. It felt like the perfect way to end the day. Plopping down on his bed, he almost forgot to call Benny. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his best friend's number.

"Dude! No freakin' way!" Benny exclaimed after Ethan had told him the story.

"I know!" Ethan replied, equally excited. "If I were a girl, I would totally be squealing and jumping up and down right now!"

"I'm already doing that anyway!"

Ethan and Benny squealed in each other's ears for a while. And they weren't ashamed at all.

After a long day, Ethan finally fell asleep, dreaming of vampires and dates and Benny and him being teenage girls.

*meanwhile*

"You WHAT?"

"Didn't you hear me? I finally have a date with Ethan tomorrow!" Sarah repeated.

"How could... wha..."

"Erica! Aren't you supposed to be happy for me?"

"Sarah, honey," Erica began in a sweet voice. Another bad sign. "I would be happy for you and the little geek, but you already have a DOUBLE DATE."

Sarah's eyes widened. "What? When did this happen?"

"Today, remember? I told you about the super cute guy I met at Starbucks, and his brother Toby?"

"That's supposed to be for BOTH of us?"

"Yeah, hence the name _double date?_"

Sarah buried her face in her hands. "Oh, God. When is it?"

"Fortunately for you, it's on Saturday. The day after your date with Ethan," Erica shuddered at the thought. Sarah couldn't wrap her head around the subject.

"So I have a date... after my date?"

"Yeah, pretty much!"

_Ugh, what am I gonna do? _Sarah thought as she sighed. _I can't cancel the date with Ethan, but I can't abandon Erica! _

"But why can't you just date both of them at the same time?" Sarah suggested.

"Uhm, no. It doesn't work that way! It's too much hotness for one girl. Aren't you glad I'm sharing it with you, then?"

"Yeah, of course I am. But I already-"

"You know what, Sarah? Fine. Have fun on your little dork date." Erica sneered, and was gone in a flash.

"Erica!" It was too late. Erica was already gone, and now Sarah was left with a choice. Ethan, the guy who she's been waiting to go out with for pretty much forever, and a guy that she had never met before!

_Maybe I could go on both..._ she thought, but shook her head. She wouldn't dare.

Or would she


	3. Chapter 3

herrow! this is my last update before i leave :(

hopefully you guys like it.

thanks for the reviews and support! (heart)

and, i will see you guys... in a week.

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

**Love Bites**

**Chapter Three**

Well, today was the day.

Time for Sarah's date with Ethan.

Or rather, date #1.

It was the first date she'd gone on since she'd been with Jesse, and she didn't really want to think about that because it was kind of traumatizing. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on Ethan's door. Almost immediately after she knocked, Mrs. Morgan answered with a smile.

"Sarah! Oh, you look so wonderful tonight!"

Sarah smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Morgan. Is Ethan there? I'm supposed to pick him up so we can go to the arcade."

"Oh right, you guys have a date," she put emphasis on the 'date' part. Thankfully, Ethan came (nearly running down the stairs) to save them from awkward silence.

"Finally, Ethan!" Mrs. Morgan exclaimed as though Ethan had been taking forever in the bathroom. "Now, run along you two! And have fun!" Mrs. Morgan winked as she nearly pushed Ethan out and closed the door.

Then Sarah and Ethan stood there in silence. "Well, that's one way to start a date," Ethan smirked.

Sarah giggled. "Come on handsome. Time for our date!"

*at the arcade*

Sarah and Ethan walked along the rows and rows of games inside the arcade. Pac-Man, Street Fighter, Metal Gear Solid, anything a geek and his date would want in an arcade date. Sarah challenged Ethan to a dance-off at the Ultimate Dance-Off game, which Ethan impressively won. Sarah was more than surprised.

"H-how?" She had asked after the dance battle ended.

Ethan shrugged, out of breath. "Mom enrolled me in tap dance when I was little," he abruptly stopped. "Did I say tap dance? I meant... boxing."

Sarah laughed. "It's totally fine. There's no shame in being able to dance. Actually, I think it's kind of cute," she took his hand as they walked along the aisles and aisles of games.

As they were playing some Mortal Kombat, Ethan spotted a woman watching them. If she was a spy, she wasn't doing a very good job.

"Hah! Fatality!" Sarah had once again beat him. "So what are we going to do next?" she looked over at Ethan, who quickly took her hand and led her away. "Wh-what's happening?" She looked around as Ethan dragged her away from the scene. "I know you hate to lose, but it's just a game-"

Suddenly, a bright flash stopped them in their tracks.

"Gah!" they both exclaimed, shielding their face from the extremely bright light.

"Oh, just beautiful! How does God make such gorgeous creatures?" An extremely annoying voice chimed in, which belonged to the woman that was watching them at Mortal Kombat. "You two will be just perfect!" And without a warning, she dragged both of them inside another bright room. Even though she was a small, petite woman, she could easily drag the weight of both Ethan and Sarah.

It took Ethan a while to adjust to the light of the room. As soon as he could see again, Sarah was already looking around the room.

It was quite a large room full of plastic folding chairs and a large stage at the front. The room was decorated with girly furnishings like flowers and pink and red draperies. It seemed kind of eerie; there were no people in the room but Sarah could hear lots of noise coming from what seemed to be behind the walls. A banner ran across the top of the stage with the words "Couple Contest" written in extremely hard-to-read cursive. Ethan and Sarah looked at each other in panic.

"Yes, welcome!" the woman said, gesturing to the room. "I saw you two around and I just couldn't help myself. You're as cute as a pimple!" she practically squealed. "Oh, how rude of me! My name is Rita Nicole. And your names are?"

"Sarah and Ethan," Sarah said impatiently. Ethan stood there in complete shock. Sarah grabbed his hand and snapped him out of it. "I'm sorry, we don't have time-"

"Oh, no worries, this is completely free of charge! All you have to do is sit back while we make you pretty and see if you have enough to impress the judges!" The woman said hurriedly as she pushed them both towards a black door by the stage. "Ronaldo! Take Miss Sarah here and see what you can do with her. Vincent! Take Mr. Ethan and do the same. Chop chop! 15 minutes 'til showtime!" she trilled, and suddenly it turned into rush time. Two tall, skinny, and extremely well dressed men stepped out of the room, taking each of their arms and dragging them inside, where they were taken to a dressing room.

"Hey! Wha-" Ethan tried to break free of Vincent's grasp, but the man hushed him and sat him down in an uncomfortable chair, where he then began to apply various powders to Ethan's face and applying lots of product in his hair.

"Get your hands off-"

"No time, girlfriend. Now make like Chris Brown and STRIP!" Ronaldo threw a dress and shoes at her and pushed her inside a stall. Being a girl, Sarah couldn't help dressing up in the gorgeous dress and shoes she was given.

"You done? Lemme see!" Ronaldo said from the dressing room. Sarah stepped out sheepishly, and Ronaldo squealed with delight. "Gosh Sarah, you look A-MA-ZING!" He sat her down in a chair and began to apply lots of makeup on her, lathering on foundation and applying eyeshadow that "compliments your skin color and the dress color" she was wearing. He then began to work on her hair, combing it roughly and spritzing it with sweet-smelling stuff. He expertly curled her hair in a cinch, and added final touches.

Ronaldo stepped back to admire his handiwork. He sniffled and wiped away a tear from his eye (which, I should mention, was heavily lined with eyeliner.) "Darling," he began, taking her hand. "You. Look. FABULOUS!"

Sarah smiled, forgetting her anger. She hadn't been pampered in such a long time, and it felt nice.

"Would you like to see yourself in the mir-"

"NO!" Sarah cleared her throat. "I mean, no thank you. I trust you when you say I look fabulous!" She smiled.

Meanwhile, things were not going so smoothly with Ethan. Being a guy, he really wasn't used to being dressed up and having product on his face and in his hair. As for Vincent, he was not used to working with models who didn't want to be models. After 10 grueling minutes of mixing and matching, Ethan finally looked at himself in the mirror.

"I look... good," he said, feeling his face. "Oh, my face is so soft..."

"Vell, vat do you tink?" Vincent asked from behind.

"I don't think I've ever looked this snazzy since my aunt's wedding, honestly, and that was 3 years ago..." he replied.

"Good. Hopefully zat Sarah will look just as good, no?" Vincent said proudly.

"Oh trust me. She'll look good with whatever she puts on."

Someone knocked on the door. "Five minutes 'til showtime!"

Ethan lined up behind lots of other very good-looking men behind the curtains. When their names were called, they were to walk to the middle of the stage where they would meet their date, then walk to the front of the stage and smile and wave, then move to the side as more couples would be introduced.

Ethan could hear lots of people in the room, talking loudly. Some where foreign. _Jeez, _he thought. _Who actually comes to these things, anyway?_ He heard the clicking of heels on the stage and Rita's voice being amplified as she chirped on about the show. Blah blah blah beauty, blah blah blah honor, blah blah blah, no flash photography allowed. Ethan exhaled. _Good, at least there's less of a chance they'll take a picture of Sarah._

It seemed like forever until Ethan was next in line and his name was being called.

"Ethan and Sarah!" Rita announced as the audience clapped.

They smiled as they walked towards each other, knowing there would be time for compliments later. They lined up next to the other couples on the side of the stage, waiting for the show to get started. All Ethan could think about was how beautiful Sarah looked.

Luckily for them (kind of) the whole contest was based around beauty and how cute a couple looked together. They were supposed to go to the front of the stage and look as couple-like as they could to win over the judges. Which was probably going to be very hard, considering the unamused expression on the judges' face.

Couple after couple was called, awkwardly posing and holding hands. The judges scored them out of ten, and the rest of the couples only got to 6 or 7.

And then the time finally came for Ethan and Sarah. Rita announced their name again as they walked to the front of the stage. The couples only had one minute to impress the judges, so they had to think fast on something to win them over. At first they just stood there, awkwardly smiling into the bored audience, unsure what to do. Both of them were desperately trying to think of ideas as the clock ticked against them. And then Ethan had that feeling again. Right here, right now. Make your move.

Without thinking, he swept Sarah off her feet and dipped her, praying to God that his strength wouldn't fail him now. The audience gasped. Some sat up in their seat, dying for something to happen.

"What are you doing?" Sarah whispered, wide-eyed.

"Just go with it," Ethan whispered, jaw clenched, and went in for the kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

hay guyzzz

thanks so much for your patience! it really means a lot that you guys would leave such nice reviews for this story while i was gone.

i will try to post another chapter on saturday.

until then, chapter four!:D

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

**Love Bites**

**Chapter Four**

What happened next was a blur. All Ethan could remember was standing on a stage next to Sarah holding a small box adorned with a ribbon. People were applauding and whistling and cheering for him. But Sarah quickly pulled him out of the room and out of the arcade before any pictures could be taken.

For a while they just stood there in the parking lot, looking at each other. Ethan's face turned bright red, a color that was not attractive to be seen in the moonlight. Sarah froze, unable to move, feeling adrenaline rushing through her.

"So, are you going to open it or not?" Sarah broke the silence. Ethan looked down at his hand to discover his knuckles had turned pale from grasping the box so strongly.

"Oh, um, yeah," he gently pulled off the ribbon and opened the small box. He stared at the contents for a while, as if he was deciding what he should do with it or not. "I think this is supposed to be for you," he gave the box to her. When she saw it, her eyes lit up.

"Oh, my gosh... it's beautiful!" she carefully pulled out the silver chain and dangled it in front of them. Attached to the chain was a gold heart. As it twirled on the chain, they could make out words engraved on it; _Love is Eternal._ Sarah put it on and smiled. "Well, I guess we should get going, huh?"

As Sarah pulled up to Ethan's house, Ethan sighed. "That was... a long night."

Sarah gripped the steering wheel. "Yeah, it was."

Before they could have another moment of awkward silence, Ethan unbuckled his seat belt and began to exit the car. But a firm grip on his arm stopped him.

"Ethan..." Sarah began, but let go of his arm. "Good night." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Ethan smiled. "Yeah, it will be," he exited the car and waved as Sarah's car pulled away.

"So, how was your date-" Ethan's mother began as he walked into the living room. "What?"

"Your clothes!"

Ethan blushed. He forgot that he was wearing the fancy tux that Vincent gave him. "Oh, this, um..." he tried to explain. "You know girls and their shopping impulses!" He said before he dashed upstairs. "Good night, mom!" he closed his door, ending the conversation. But he knew that he wasn't going to sleep that night.

*meanwhile*

Leaning on the hood of her car, Sarah groaned as she turned off her phone. She tried calling Erica for the fourth time that night, but she decided to give up. She knew Erica wasn't going to change her mind.

She absentmindedly toyed with the heart on her necklace. As much as it pained her, she had to go on that date tomorrow. If she didn't, Erica would never talk to her again. And that wasn't an exaggeration.

Knowing that Erica wouldn't reply to any of her calls, she had one last choice.

_I'll go to the date. Where is it?_ she texted Erica and prayed she would respond. Sure enough, she received a text from Erica 5 minutes later.

_Lorenzo's. 5 PM._ _Be there._

Sarah inhaled sharply. Lorenzo's was the fanciest restaurant in White Chapel. Appetizers cost $50 alone. _Geez, who is she dating? Bill Gates' son?_ She shook her head and made her way into her apartment. _You'll be fine, _she reassured herself. _It's not like you're gonna fall for some stranger anyway._


	5. Chapter 5

hello all!

this is chapter five of my new series, Love Bites.

thank you so much for being so patient the past few days! i couldn't get access to my computer, so I couldn't update as much as I wanted to.

anyway,

yeah.

this chapter is kind of boring, in my opinion.

i just wanted to express sarah's feelings and such, so i don't blame you for leaving angry reviews

oan theres a "thats what she said" moment in there... xD i couldn't help myself

thanks again!

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

Love Bites

Chapter Five

Sarah let out a long exhale as she stared at the entrance of Lorenzo's. It was dark inside, with lots of candles and not that many people. Well at least that's what it looked like. Sarah had never been inside before. She heard it took months to get a reservation, even if the restaurant only seated 40 people.

Sarah checked her watch and made her way inside, where there was a tall man in a suit behind a counter waiting for her. She tried her best not to sound nervous.

"Hi, I'm here with Erica and-"

"Your name is Sarah?" he interrupted, not looked up from his dimly lit computer.

"Um, yes."

"Right this way please." he stood up and began walking towards the back of the restaurant, with Sarah trailing close behind. The restaurant was so dark, she could've gotten lost. It felt like a cave, cold and empty, except for the candles at every table and the hushed conversation of the rich customers.

Before she knew it, she was standing right next to the table where Erica sat. It was a rather large corner booth, with a small sconce on the wall next to it. They all seemed to be staring at Sarah. Erica grinned and looked at Felix, whose arm was wrapped around her shoulder.

"Felix, this is Sarah, the friend I was telling you about."

Sarah couldn't believe it. These men were the most attractive men she'd ever met.

And she hated them.

"It's nice to meet you, Sarah," the one called Felix said. "Please have a seat. I assume you are my brother's date?"

She nodded and sat down next to Felix's brother on the other side of the table. He turned to face her. Her heart stopped.

"Hi, I'm Toby," he smiled and held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sarah." She smiled politely and shook his hand. If she didn't cooperate, Erica would still hate her.

"I'm glad to see you came, Sarah," Erica said.

"Yeah, well I didn't really have a choice either." Sarah spat. Why was Erica acting so different?

"Well, you're just in time to order," Toby said, scooting closer to Sarah and sliding her a laminated menu. She wasn't sure if she should order or not. She wanted to look as normal as possible, so she ordered what Erica did.

Erica and Felix chatted for a while. And by chatting, it was flirting. Sarah just sat there, lips tight together, next to the fanciest and most attractive man she had ever met.

"So," Toby began. "This is quite interesting." Sarah refused to reply. If she looked him in the eyes, she would definitely fall for him.

"In case you didn't know, I'm from Germany. I live in the U.S., but I still have a bit of an accent. Hope that clears up things for you," Toby said when Sarah didn't reply.

"And I am from Sweden. We're adopted." Felix piped in. Sarah just nodded and stared at the menu. Before Toby could strike up another conversation, the food arrived, steaming and delicious.

The foreign brothers were ready to dig in, but wouldn't take a bit until the ladies did. ("Our mother is very strict on manners!" Felix laughed.)

Erica and Sarah stared at each other, as if they were daring each other to take the first bite. But they know that they couldn't eat human food without consequences. Luckily, Erica and Sarah had ordered their stake rare. Sarah took her knife and cut the tiniest sliver off and ate it. It tasted terrible, but she could stand it enough to swallow. Erica did the same. The boys stared for a while, and then followed.

The rest of the time was pretty much Erica and Felix's date. Sarah didn't dare speak to Toby, no matter how charming he was. She still despised him with every cell in her body.

Finally, an hour later, the date ended. Felix and Erica stayed in the restaurant, "finishing up business" (which meant making out) while Toby walked Sarah outside to her car.

"It was nice meeting you," Toby smiled, showing perfectly straight teeth. "I hope we meet again." Before Sarah could protest, Toby took Sarah's hand and kissed it gently, as a gesture of goodbye. He gave another smile as he walked away. "Oh, and Sarah," he stopped and looked at her. "You look very beautiful."

Sarah drove home painfully, her hands gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned pale. The only thing she wanted to do right now was cry. At least it was better than wreaking havoc on innocent people. She pulled over in the parking lot of a 24/7 drugstore. Slowly counting to ten, she closed her eyes and felt the steam blowing out of her ears.

_Why am I so angry? _she thought as she curled up in her seat. Was it the way Erica was forcing her to date random foreign guys? The way she was betraying Ethan? But soon, Sarah realized it wasn't anger.

It was fear.

Fear of losing Erica, fear of losing Ethan...

Fear of falling for a man she didn't even know.

Could she do that? Is it possible?

Something about his smile unnerved her. Like he was taunting her to fall in love with him.

She shook her head. How could she think about falling in love with him? She loved Ethan. She knew that much.

Toby blurred the lines between love and fear. And he was creating a barrier between Sarah and Ethan.

_Why does destiny hate me so much?_

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, taking her back to reality.

It was a text from Erica.

_Thanks for coming. I knew you would do this for me. _

_Yup, _Sarah thought, nearly throwing her phone out the window. _Way to make me feel better. _

Thankfully, Erica hadn't scheduled another date with Toby and Felix. Yet.

_Yeah right, like I would go._ Sarah thought about the possibility of another date.

But she wouldn't confess that meeting Toby was life-changing. You can't really forget about him.

Just another thing Sarah was afraid of.


	6. Chapter 6

heyoo~!

here's another installment of Love Bites.

i'm so sorry for the late update, i had an orthodontics appointment and was out the whole day for my sister's birthday.

at least it's still on monday, eh? xD

thanks so much for being so patient as I get back into my normal schedule (which you can see on my profile)

thanks again for your support and reviews. they make my day :)

well, here's another chapter.

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

Love Bites

Chapter Six

At school a few days after the date with Toby, Sarah tried to avoid Ethan for a while out of guilt that he would somehow find out about this. All throughout the day, every time someone tried to approach her, she'd simply ignore them until they went away. Same with Ethan and Benny and Rory. Of course, Erica still made no attempt to talk to Sarah until she was knew Sarah was happy.

_Honestly, how can she do this to me? _Sarah thought, angrily writing useless notes in English class. _She's the one making me unhappy!_

She'd drifted off in the middle of class, and didn't notice she had almost written all over the table in her anger. She stopped before anyone would notice her.

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the school day.

_Finally, _she thought, leaving in a flash. _I can go home and cry myself to sleep or something._ She didn't notice that she passed right by Benny and Ethan, who had been observing her the whole day.

"Yeah, something's definitely off." Benny muttered to Ethan.

"I don't get it! She was happy when we went on her date, then she didn't talk to me again for the whole weekend, and now she's suddenly ignoring everyone!"

"Or maybe she's possessed by some evil old lady soul that wants to be young again..." Benny drifted off. Ethan looked at him.

"...Never mind. Well, I gotta head home. I'll try contacting her tonight, see what's going on."

*later that night*

"Hey, have you tried calling Sarah? I've been trying ever since I got home but it keeps going to voicemail." Ethan sounded distraught over the phone.

"No, um, I haven't," Benny said, voice quivering.

"Are you okay? You sound really scared. Or nervous. Hey, are you watching Chucky III again?"

"No no, I'm fine," Benny said. "And DON'T SPEAK OF THAT MOVIE!"

"Alright, well I'll keep trying. See you later."

He hung up.

Benny exhaled and looked over at the lovelorn vampire sitting at his counter.

"That was Ethan." he said.

Sarah tried to hold back tears as she absentmindedly fiddled with her necklace. She had never taken it off since their date. ("Wait, but what about when you shower?" "Benny!")

She had shown up, near tears, an hour earlier on Benny's doorstep. She couldn't take it anymore, she wanted to talk to someone. But Benny probably wasn't the best choice.

"Can't you just cast a spell on Toby and Felix (she almost choked on their names) to make them forget about me and Erica or something?" she asked desperately. She was at her limit.

"Sorry, Sarah, we're not allowed to cast spells that interfere with love." he said apologetically.

"Oh come on, there has to be so-" she suddenly paused. "Did you say _love?_"

Benny turned white.

Sarah buried her head in her hands for the billionth time today. "So he _loves_ me?"

"Well, look on the bright side-"

"There is no bright side, Benny!"

"Oh, boo-hoo, I have two super attractive guys on my hips, I don't know what to do, waaah," Benny said in a girl voice. Sarah glared. "Okay, that probably _is_ a really serious situation... but I can't really do any sorcery witchcraft stuff!"

"Well, how about the time when you made those love potions? Can't you just do that but reverse it?"

Benny leaned in closer to Sarah and spoke quietly, as if someone was listening (when in reality, no one else was in the house.) "Look Sarah, don't think I haven't tried that already, because I did. The only reason I know that he's in love with you is because I tried to make the reverse love potion, and it didn't work! Even my grandma tried it!"

Sarah was closer to tears than ever. "But how does he love me? I've only met him once, and I barely even spoke to him!"

"Well y'know, there's actually quite a few reasons..."

Another glare. Benny cleared his throat.

"And, Erica and Felix also love each other, so you'd have to make _those_ two hate each other before we could even attempt the potion..." Benny looked up at Sarah. Sarah looked up at Benny.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sarah said, regaining color in her face.

"Jamba Juice? Ow!" Benny rubbed the spot where Sarah slapped him.

"Wow, Benny, how did you get so good at giving relationship advice?" Sarah said, having mood swings ranging from angry to distressed to excited to mischievous.

"Well, my grandma watches a lot of Dr. Phil, and occasionally some Maury, so..."

"We have to think of a huge plan," Sarah said, already brewing up some ideas. "Starting tomorrow, come over to my apartment and we can create our masterplan!" she ended up squealing the last part in excitement.

"Oh, and don't tell _anybody_ about this, okay?" she turned serious again.

"Thanksokaybye!" she said quickly as she sped out the door.

As soon as she was gone, Benny began rubbing his hands together and doing his best evil laugh. If there was one thing he loved, it was causing Erica's boyfriend misery.


	7. Chapter 7

hai!

so sorry for the late update :P

i'm afraid i got lost on the path of life ;) (LAWL i made a naruto reference.)

hope ya like it!

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

Love Bites

Chapter Seven

Sarah wasn't very good at making plans.

Well, not very good at making evil, mastermind plans that cause people to break up.

That's why when Benny came over the next night she just laid back, answered a few questions, and watched as Benny paced around the room talking to himself about his plan.

"Alright, so what are Erica's biggest pet peeves in a relationship?" Benny asked her.

"Well, she always expects presents after the first date, and whenever she doesn't get a present she freaks out."

Benny nodded, trying to work it all into his head. "Well, we can't really interfere with present-giving. You already mentioned that he's rich, so he could probably buy a shopping mall if he wanted to..."

"She hates it when he's shorter than she is."

"But if she's such a control freak, wouldn't she like it if her boyfriend were shorter than her?"

"You really don't understand anything about girls, do you?"

Benny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Just keep going."

"Hmm... well, whenever she goes on dates, she always loves to eat chocolate frosting on the cake..."

Benny took that one as an idea. "Now _that's _something we could do. Could you find out where Felix lives?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, I guess I could..." she pulled out her phone and texted Erica.

_Hey Erica, just a quick question. Do Felix and Toby live together?_

Benny tried to peek over her shoulder to see what she was texting, but Sarah pushed his face away.

_Yeah, they do. Why?_

Sarah smiled, which Benny took as a good thing.

_Do you mind sending me their address? _

_6121 Bakersfield. You should know where that is._

Sarah couldn't hide the surprised look on her face.

"Why, what happened?" Benny asked.

"They live in Bakersfield!" Sarah said, half excited and half nervous.

"But that's, like, the richest neighborhood in town!"

"No dip, Sherlock!"

They were silent for a moment, but Sarah's phone received another text, breaking the silence.

_Speaking of where they live, you need to be there on Friday at 7. Felix and Toby want us to meet their mom._

Sarah stared at the phone, her mind going blank. Not only did she have to meet with them at their own house, Toby thought they were dating!

"You okay?" Benny said, concerned. Sarah's face was losing color quickly.

"I... yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." she said, putting her phone away. "So, what's the plan?"

*next day at school*

Sarah inhaled sharply when she saw Ethan waiting at her locker.

"Hey, Ethan!" she put on a smile.

"Hey, Sarah," he smiled back. "We haven't talked since our date, um... are you okay?"

She concentrated on opening her locker. "Um, yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Sorry about going completely MIA the past few days. I've been kinda busy."

He nodded. "That's okay," he waited for a while like he was thinking. "But if you have time, would you maybe wanna go out or something tomorrow? They're releasing the new expansion pack for Ninja Blood, maybe we could hang out at Gamestop-"

"I'm really sorry, but I can't," Sarah choked out, staring into her locker. "This guilt is... I mean, I'm kind of busy..."

Ethan stared at her. "Oh, um, okay. Guess I'll talk to you later, then. Bye." he walked to his next class quietly.

It took all the self control in Sarah's body not to rip off her locker door and throw it the wall. She loved Ethan. She knew that. And she was not going to let some pretty-boy with tons of money ruin that. She just wish she could talk to Ethan about everything, like normal couples always do. And then it hit her.

_Is this my fault?_

_Is it because Erica and I are vampires?_

She shook her head. It wasn't her fault she was being a good friend to Erica.

But it was her fault she wasn't being honest with Ethan. If she didn't end this soon, she didn't know how long she could take it.

_Don't worry, Sarah. You have a plan. It'll be okay. Drive to Bakersfield, meet their stupid family and just follow through with the plan. _

_You have to keep fighting._

_Because you love him._

_Don't you?_

But she wasn't sure who she wanted to love anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

herrow!

so so sorry about last week. people were visiting and i couldn't get to my computer. please forgive meh :D

anyway, heres another chapter. sorry its uploaded so late, i had volleyball practice.

thanks so much for your patience and understanding!

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

Love Bites

Chapter Eight

Sarah inhaled slowly.

_One more step._

By the time she got to the table, everyone was already enjoying their dessert. Sarah watched as Erica slowly scooped up some frosting with her finger and licked it off with her eyes closed, enjoying the chocolate in all its savoriness. Sarah glanced at the clock.

_5_

_4_

_3_

_2_

_1...  
_Sarah smirked as Erica began coughing. She tried to hold it in for a while, but the coughing got so out of control she had to leave for the bathroom. Felix followed her, concerned.

"Excuse us."

Sarah stared into her lap as loud retching sounds echoed from the bathroom. Rita held her face in her hands. Toby cleared his throat and pushed his strawberry shortcake out of arm's reach. After about 5 minutes of Erica retching and screaming at Felix, he came out of the bathroom and back into the dining room.

"Erm, I apologize for the hold up, but Erica isn't feeling so well at the current moment. Mother, I'm afraid she'll have to stay for the night. It'll do her no good if she leaves in this state." He rejoined her in the bathroom.

Rita looked up, red-faced and angry.

"Chef!" she screamed, and barged into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to leave you here for just a second while I go, um, assist my mother." Toby gave a quick smile and followed his mother into the kitchen.

"Take all the time you need..."

Sarah sped upstairs and scanned the hallway, ignoring the billions of mirrors and creepy portraits of old people hanging on the walls. She finally came to a stop in front of a door that had a sign on it that read, 'Master Felix.' She scoffed.

She pulled out the false evidence from her bag and carefully made her way into the room. It could be booby-trapped, for all she knew. The people probably went Bat-cave security system all over this place. She quietly closed the door behind her and went to work. There was only so much time before Rita made her point and went back into the dining room.

*five minutes later*

Sarah sneaked back into her seat just before Toby strolled out of the kitchen, his mother still in the kitchen yelling at the cooks. She felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Sarah, but I do believe that you're sitting in my seat."

Without a word, Sarah switched to the chair next to her. Toby sat down.

"Did you really miss me that much, love? I was only gone for five minutes!" he grinned. She didn't answer.

Felix came out of the bathroom and yelled at one of the butlers. "Oy, Locke, would you mind preparing one of the guest rooms for Erica?"

"Wait!" Sarah stood up. They all stared at her. She walked over the Felix.

"You and Erica are quite close, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"Well, I think it's that time in your relationship where you can sleep in the same bed, huh?"

Felix crossed his arms, blushing.

"What makes you think we're that serious?"

Sarah locked eyes with him. "Listen, you guys are close. I know it. Your mother won't mind, Erica definitely wouldn't mind, it's just up to you." She leaned closer. "Trust me, I'm her best friend. Erica likes guys who... you know. Like to cross lines. Bad boys."

Felix sighed.

"Hold it, Locke. Erica's sleeping with me tonight."

Sarah concealed a smirk and walked back to her seat. Toby leaned over.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing." Sarah smiled to herself.

*an hour later*

"Oh, and this is my room," Felix said. "Where you'll be sleeping tonight."

Erica smiled. "Hm, I thought you guys had an extra room or two."

Felix shrugged. "You'll be warmer with me, anyway." He opened the door and they both stepped in.

"How charming," Erica said, looking around. Mini-fridge, walk-in closet, flat-screen TV, the bare necessities. "I can't see how you don't spend all day in here."

"Well, if I stayed in my room all day, then I can't spend any time with you." Felix chuckled. Erica giggled kissed him on the cheek. But the moment she pulled away, she knew something was wrong.

"Is that... perfume?"

She looked around.

"I don't know where that came from, honestly." Felix said, looking around with her for no reason.

"Oh, my God!" Erica screamed.

"What, what happened?" Felix rushed over to his desk where Erica stood, staring. Lipstick, a perfume bottle, and a note that read,

_Last night was fun. _

_Make sure to call me, babe._

At the end there was a lipstick stain that looked like someone had kissed the paper.

"I can't believe you!" Erica said, enraged. "There was a girl here?"

"W-where did you find that?" Felix said, completely and utterly confused.

"In your desk drawer!" Erica's face began turning red.

Felix threw his hands in the air. "I swear, I don't even know where that stuff came from-"

"Don't lie to me!" Erica screamed. Felix took a step back, speechless. Erica noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She ripped away the blanket from Felix's bed and found-

"A _bra?!"_ she shrieked, holding it up to Felix's face.

"Erica, I don't know-"

"No! Just stop," she threw it at his feet. "We're over! I hate you!"

The door slammed behind her.

Leaving Felix alone in his room, the smell of perfume lingering in the air.


	9. Chapter 9

hai:DD

i'm sorry for the late update again :( i've just been SO SUPER BUSY with school and volleyball business. hope you guys are having a groovy school year so far!

anyway, thanks so much for your patience in these stressful times. it means a lot (heart)

and now. another chapter.

enjoy,

-TangoMaxx

* * *

Love Bites  
Chapter Nine

Erica walked into school dragging her feet, hair pointing in all directions, dried mascara tears on her cheeks. Kids hurriedly rushed out of her way. They weren't used to seeing Erica like this, and they didn't want to risk anything.  
She glared at them as she walked past, hearing their frightened whispers.  
"What happened to her?"  
"She looks angrier than usual."  
"I'd still hit that-"  
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT?!" she screamed. They cowered in fear and scattered to their next class. Erica resumed her sulking.  
She had hardly gotten any sleep last night. In fact, all she did was cry her eyes out and watch Dusk for the billionth time.  
Sarah approached her warily. "Hey, Erica, are you okay?"  
She ignored her, like she did to everyone else that day. Fear and concern turned to snickering and mockery as the day dragged on.  
Her phone rang constantly, text messages from Sarah, calls from Felix, it didn't matter. She had chucked it into a pond after school anyway.  
All she wanted to do was go to Felix's house and curl up in his arms forever (well, until he was dead, since Erica couldn't die anyway.) She missed him so much, she considered taking him back, even after he lied to her and betrayed her.  
She felt alone.

Benny reported for duty at Sarah's house later that night only to find her curled up on the couch.  
"Hey, what's up?" he said as he walked through the front door.  
She didn't answer.  
He sat down next to her. "You okay?"  
She shook her head. "I can't believe I just did that. I probably just ruined their lives."  
"But it's for the best, right? Now, let's get to the potioning!"

Sarah sighed and followed Benny to her kitchen counter, where Benny began taking various-sized vials and jars out of his bag, a long silver spoon, followed by a dilapidated brown book. He also pulled out a mini cauldron. ("Sometimes I like to pretend I go to Hogwarts!" Benny commented.)

"Okay, so... what are we doing?" Sarah asked as Benny began flipping to a bookmarked page.

"I'm going to make a Forgetful Potion. It causes the subject to forget the certain... well, it's hard to explain, so I'll just do it as I go. Do you have anything that Erica might've used, like lip gloss or some of her hair?"

Sarah thought for a while. It should be easy to find something Erica used in the past since she used to visit Sarah nearly every day. She rummaged through her drawers for a bit, then found a tube of lipstick Erica had left at her house a few months ago. She threw it over to Benny, who fumbled with it for a while, then placed it with the rest of his ingredients on the counter. She sat down next to him and watched him... heat the cauldron with his hands. Well, not solely with his hands. He used a spell. It was like those little hand warmers, except your hands could warm themselves.

He uncorked a little vial full of purple liquid and poured it into the cauldron. He then continued to pour some odd ingredients like some animal's hair and what looked like shell shards. He read the recipe again to make sure he didn't miss anything so far, and then stirred the concoction with the silver spoon.

"Which way is counterclockwise again?" Benny asked out loud. Sarah rolled her eyes. "Okay, never mind. So basically what this potion is about, is when you give it to a certain person and they drink it, they will forget the person whose DNA sample has been fused into this potion."

"Oh, I see."

"It sounds pretty simple. But these instructions are so confusing."

"Yeah, stirring counterclockwise is so hard to figure out."

The potion began to bubble violently. Benny quickly dropped in Erica's lipstick. It stopped bubbling, then began turning into many different colors, purple to lightning blue to deep red. Sarah wasn't sure if it was from the lipstick color or if it was supposed to do that.

Benny closed his eyes, as if in deep thought, and began chanting, "Oblivisci dedisco!" over and over again. Sarah was reminded of a certain scene in Finding Nemo.

It seemed like forever before Benny opened his eyes. He made a hand motion, like he was throwing an imaginary ball at the cauldron, and then sparks flew from the cauldron in a flurry of rainbow colors. It was like Fourth of July in a cauldron. Benny took a small vial and dipped it into the cauldron, collecting some of the potion. He corked it and handed it to Sarah.

"Voila," he said. "Now all you have to do is get Felix to drink this, and he'll forget all about Erica."

Sarah examined it warily. "Forever?"

Benny shrugged as he put his jars back into his bag. "Yeah, pretty much."

_Now all I have to do is get Toby to, well, not be in love with_ me. Sarah thought to herself as she put the vial in her purse. _But before I even get to talk to him, I'll need to find a way to get Felix to drink this. _

"Anything else you need?" Sarah heard Benny ask, but she wasn't listening. He waved his hand in front of her face. "Hello? Earth to Sarah?"

"Thanks, Benny. This is all I need right now." Sarah said quietly. "See you tomorrow."

Sarah fell asleep that night thinking of ways she could get Felix to drink the potion. But something in the back of her mind told her she shouldn't mess with Erica. Or Felix. She knew they were in love, and she knew that they made each other happy.

Now that she thought about it, Erica's never been more happy with another guy than she's been with Felix.

All along, she was trying to save Erica from another stupid relationship, but all she'd done was ruin both of their lives.

_If Erica is so happy with Felix, maybe I could be happy with Toby._

It was the very thought that scared Sarah, that she could fall in love with Felix's brother. She wasn't sure if she wanted to or not.

_No!_ she heard a voice in her head say. _You can't do that! You love Ethan! Ethan loves you! Doesn't that mean anything anymore?_

__It does! she responded. You're right. Erica and I aren't the same person. Just because she's happy doesn't mean I would be happy.

Sarah pushed away all the thoughts about falling in love with Toby and decided that all she would do is make Toby hate her, and everything would be gone. No more Toby, no more Felix, everyone would be happy.

But was she doing a good thing?


End file.
